


Bloody Blossoms

by MateriaFlower1_1



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 14:39:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14357559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MateriaFlower1_1/pseuds/MateriaFlower1_1
Summary: Sakura and Sasuke had never had a placid relationship. What with attempted murder and emotional abuse, it was nigh on chaotic. But still, at the end of it all, she loved him. And behind her eyelids every night as he slept by her side, just out of reach, all she saw were bloody blossoms. One shot series on the SasuSaku pairing; romance, angst a touch of other genres.





	1. 005. Fear

_005\. Fear_

The eyes of the Sharingan had long been a weapon in war. So valued were they, that eyes would be stolen from another living person's face, in order to merely see as the Uchiha did. So treasured were they, that entire families would be slaughtered just for the bloody red eyes.

Many people looked at the Uchiha with fear, for their red eyes and their blank faces, holding calculating minds. And when the entire clan was wiped out, they were glad. There was a collective sigh of relief from the village as the threat of being placed into a red and black coma left them. But there was still one boy left.

They feared he would do them wrong. They were right.

She was the only woman who would look at him brazenly without a shred of fear in her eyes, when they were young. But as they grew up... that faded, and fear was all that shone faintly in her sunken emerald eyes.

When he came back to the village after the long war finally ended, she could not look at him, not when those red eyes had made her see him stabbing her. Not when because of those red eyes, she'd thought she was dead.

But he coaxed her round, despite her mind's willing. He promised that he wouldn't use his eyes on her ever again in a snowy park, in December. She smiled at him, shyly, and nodded. Ino gave her such a lecture that night, and Hinata and TenTen understood how it felt to love that deeply, but they too looked at her with troubled faces. They too didn't trust this man. They all looked at him with fear; fear of what he could do to her. And her head was grateful, but her heart was not. Her heart wanted for her to click her fingers, and everything to change back to how it used to be. How she liked it being.

Naruto too tried to dissuade her, what with his serious face and earnest eyes that always seemed to disarm her. She wasn't used to this sincere Naruto, she was used to the joyous, effervescent Naruto, jumping around in bright orange.

"Sakura, he's my best friend, but I worry about you." He said gravely, cerulean eyes looking down at the thawing ground. "He showed you him killing you last time, and he has tried to kill you before. Who knows what he could do." He warned, speaking as though he were recounting a premonition. He must've seen the torn, painful look on her face because he took her out for Ramen then, and they didn't talk about it again. But she teased him about Hinata as much as she possibly could've.

Despite all their advice, she trusted him anyway. She spent her days in the hospital and her nights in his arms. She was happy, but the shreds of fear still remained in her eyes, slowly shrinking day by day.

Until finally, she wasn't scared anymore. She was happy - happy to be with him. And her joy bloomed alongside the flowers of summer.

In the depths of the short nights, when the world finally cooled to black, she shot awake, and woke him up too amid a heavy sweat and tossing and turning.

His eyes glowed red in the darkness of their surroundings and she couldn't feel anything, see anything, smell anything or hear anything about her world anymore. All she saw were the falling petals covered in thick red blood. Blood, that she felt slide down her body tortuously slow. She heard a thousand swords being drawn, over and over, and she smelt his blood, the scent that burned and stung her nostrils, as he threw himself before her, over and over.

She didn't know how long that lasted. It felt like days, maybe weeks.

She awoke in a hospital bed, bright white sheets and walls and lights stinging her eyes. And all she could see as he stood over her was the bright red star no longer in his eyes and the falling bloody blossoms.

The whole hospital heard her scream of fear.


	2. 010. Annoy

_010\. Annoy_

Ino was the first person to tell me I was annoying. We were six, and we'd argued over Sasuke, again. She'd called me annoying, and she'd shouted it so loudly that the whole playground went silent and stared at me. Of course, I cried, and I've never forgotten it. I find it a worse insult that 'forehead' now.

Since I'd shown such a weakness, Ino capitalised on it - but I never felt as offended as I had done before. We had this strange relationship, where she'd called me 'forehead' or 'annoying', and I'd call her 'pig' or 'stupid'. But never really meant either. Still, we competed over Sasuke, and that was the worst one. Perhaps if kidded myself so far into loving him, that when I actually did begin to love him, it hurt me so much the final time he called me annoying.

The first time he'd done it, it was more surprising that he was so rude, but every other time he said it after that, I just pretended that if never heard it and thought about a time he was nice to me - mostly in my dreams.

But then, on the day he left, it affected me so badly. I could barely process anything after for what I realised was the last time he told me I was annoying. I realised that that was it; he was leaving us all, possibly forever, and all he had to say to me was 'you're annoying'. I understood then, that he'd never. Care about me, and he'd never care about anyone - Naruto was practically his brother, and yet he was shunning him in favour of a snake man. I realised then that I may have lost my final chance for any future with him.

But I didn't stop loving him.

I never forgot what he said to me, and the first time I saw him when he stood at the top of the cliff, almost hidden in the shade of the sun, I remembered his voice in my head, telling me I was annoying, telling me that I'd only annoy him. He'd become my nightmare and my best dream.

I saw him later when I had resolved to kill him - I'd become so strong, just to prove him wrong and show him that I wasn't an annoyance, that I could protect myself and be useful, and I was so offended and shock and hurt that I was thrown aside easily, but I was mostly glad. It had taken so long to resolve to do this, and I'd hurt so many people that I knew that I couldn't fail, but I also knew that failure was my only option. My role in this fight wasn't to kill Sasuke, but to help Naruto win him back. He never said I was annoying then, but the look in his eyes showed me exactly what he thought of me; I was just annoying. I wouldn't ever be on their level. I was a hindrance. I resolved to work harder. But I still couldn't stop loving him, no matter what he did or how he treated me.

And in the war, when he finally rejoined us, on our side, I was so glad. I didn't see his usual downtrodden gaze, and he didn't seem to be annoyed with me. Rather, he seemed glad of my presence - I was needed on a practical level by him. I felt validated for the first time in my life. Of course, he had to go and ruin that with a genjutsu using those eyes that made me feel as though I were being. Stabbed, just as my heart was. I finally thought I was useful to him; valuable - but I was still just annoying, I would still just get in the way. I couldn't describe the feeling, but I pushed it aside - my teacher needed me, and I would be damned if I let Kakashi-sensei I suffer, or worse, on my watch. I couldn't let anything go wrong, I _had_ to prove that I was useful, in what I was confident in. Despite what I'd like to say, I needed his validation in this, I needed to know that I wasn't just the annoying girl anymore.

But Sasuke had changed, he wasn't quite his vengeful self, and he wasn't quite his old self - he was something different, something more and something less hate-filled. I worried like mad when I saw the two lying there, him bleeding out from the stump where his arm was, and Naruto sitting up fine, with an arm forming as I watched it - of course, he wasn't fine, when was he? But Sasuke, as proud and impudent as ever - refused a new arm. He refused to be healed too, until I almost pinned him down to make him agree. Something had changed in his eyes too, they didn't look at me like I was worthless, and they didn't look at me as though he had all the weight of the world on his shoulders. He looked at peace, and he almost looked happy to see me. I couldn't restore his arm, but I could heal him - and I healed him with such dexterity that one of his eyebrows shifted up somewhat. I'd win what I'd wanted, partly. He was impressed with me, to a degree, and I'd got the validation I wanted, even if it wasn't in spoken form. I knew then, as I always had done, that I loved him.

When finally, we were all back in the village together, Sasuke looked different. I knew how he'd changed, finally. He felt guilty. He felt guilty for wanting to destroy all of the village he was in again, he wanted to destroy his home, and he wanted to destroy the bonds with every single one of his friends. I understood, somehow, even though I didn't want to. He wanted to leave, to avoid being reminded of his mistakes every day. We bonded over this, and our relationship progressed, as I'd always hoped it would, from severe to cordial to friendly to intimate. He let me move into the Uchiha residence which he'd been given back, and I understood during the time when he would leave. We never married, and we both understood that he had boundaries and that I had to have my independence. But we functioned together like a well-oiled machine; it was rare an argument broke out.

Soon enough, as is to be expected, I was pregnant, and he left. I understood as I always did, but when he didn't come home after two weeks... A month... Two months... Four months... I worried. He'd always promised he'd be back, and he'd always stayed true to his word. I could only wonder whether he'd thought I was annoying again, or if he'd left and decided not to come back. But he did, eventually. He told me that he had some business to conduct once every year, and I thought I understood. But I was heavily pregnant, and I was angry, so furious that I banished him from his own house for an entire week, when I went into labour, and he returned to my side without a word. I never did have much consistency and stamina when it came to Sasuke. As he named our daughter, I knew that is been right to love him, even if it was difficult and painful at times - this was worth it.

And when my daughter called Naruto's son annoying for the first time, with a triumphant cry issuing from her small mouth, I was taken somewhat aback - she spoke and sounded and had the eyes and hair of Sasuke, but the temperament of me. And yet she still managed to call people annoying.

I do love Sasuke, even if he did manage to pass that on to our daughter.


	3. 050. Flowers

_050\. Flower_

_Cherry Blossom_

Her name was 'Sakura'. Cherry Blossom. At first glance, there couldn't be any other name for her - her hair was the exact colour of the flowers she was named for. The sweet little flowers that bloomed in spring, and faded soon after, every year - an unrelenting cycle. I know that I couldn't think of any other name for her - not that I'd want there to be.

  
Cherry blossoms were my favourite flower. They still are, but it mattered more then. She chased me more back then, so I didn't tell anyone. Besides, it probably didn't help my image to have a 'favourite flower' - that was more a Naruto type thing. I always thought that the Cherry Blossoms were the most beautiful of the flowers; their life was so fleeting, but they made it beautiful whilst it lasted. They almost blocked out the sun with their pink little flowers, and then, when the time was right, they blanketed the floor with their death. It was poetic, and somehow I felt like I understood. Sounds stupid; I 'understood a flower'. It's true though, I knew more than most how it was to see people grow to their prime of their life and then fade all too quickly.

  
That may be the case for the flowers, but I don't think I'd wish that upon her. Maybe, in my darkest times that I can barely admit to, I might've wished it then. Now, I'd never want that to happen, I think I'd put my own life before hers. I don't want her to fade now since she's in the prime of her life. She so beautiful and kind and she barely hits even Naruto now... I don't want this to fade.  
Her hair may be like a cherry blossom, but the rest of her was not. She used to primp and preen herself when we were very young when we were first put onto a three-man squad. I thought that was like a cherry blossom's bud, preparing to bloom. But I couldn't see past her then, and I never thought she'd bloom into anything beautiful. After three years though, she had bloomed, but into something else. She wasn't gentle and calm and soft and beautiful like I'd wanted her to be, deep in my rarest dreams. But she was tough with a hard outer shell and a harder still fist, and she'd kept her pink hair cropped. When it came to the rumours, for her, I really did prefer longer hair. She was nothing like a cherry blossom back then and, when everything was calm and I was alone, I hoped that she'd soften and become the cherry-blossom-like-woman I'd always imagined. A woman like my mother.  
But of course, when I came back the village with Naruto, she was so cold to me. The winter temperatures froze my outside, and her coldness froze my inside. I felt desolate and slightly hopeless. She was still so angry, so furious at the world, and there was nothing I could do to stop that feeling.

  
So I made her a bouquet of Cherry Blossoms, when the buds were just beginning to bloom on the trees.  
With the help of Naruto, I cornered her in training ground seven, and I gave them to her. She shouted at me for hours, and to my shame, I shouted at her too. She eventually collapsed into tears, and dragged me down to the floor with her.  
From then on, she was the woman of my dreams - the woman I knew she was going to be. She was like a flower; softer, calmer, and her anger was mostly dispersed. We were happy, and we still are. And every year when the cherry blossoms are just blooming, I give her a bouquet of the soft pink flowers that are just like her.


	4. 050. Eyes

_050\. Eyes_

_Blood Red_

I loved him... I love him... But his eyes, they scare me, if I'm honest.

When I was younger, I liked them, I really did. They were so dark and reflective and mysterious and now that I'm older, they're... Well, they're downright sexy. I thought that was all there was to it really, all there would ever be. I should've known better, the Sharingan was famous around the world for installing fear in the toughest ninja. But Kakashi's never scared me, I was just intrigued by the swirling obsidian tomoes and the startling red hue. Perhaps it was because he was such a friendly man. Not at first of course, but during the wave mission he became a friendly man - a father figure, but he was too young (and now I know it - too attractive) to be a father.

It was on that same mission in the wave when he awakened his Sharingan. He came back with Naruto, pinning is all with an icy look, and then I felt the breath pushed from my lungs. I felt like I was being pinned to a wall, a knee in my chest and no escape viable. He stared at me for long enough for my heart to leap up my throat, and then the tomoes spun and the blood-curdling red was gone. I was never more relieved. I still loved him though, to my stupidity.

When we were older, and he was finally back in the village, I felt the wrath of the Sharingan nice again. I'd spent the night with him... It was a mistake, and I felt so stupid - it was all I'd wanted as a child, well, not quite in this form, but I'd wanted his love, in some way. This was the closest yet that I'd got to it... But it was a mistake, after the passion had faded. I was trying to leave, in the middle of the night whilst he slept and hopefully, the alcohol would take care of his memory, or else I'd probably leave the village. I was halfway through redressing myself, sitting on the edge of the bed and just slightly turned to keep an eye on him when he awoke.

He sat up so fast, his skin a glistening sheen and his breath wild like a horse beating steps onto the dry mud of a desert. He grabbed my shoulder and brought me closer to him, and I looked into his eyes. They shone bloody in the near pitch of the night, the black lines of the star almost glowing in the night. I remember seeing the wide stare of red, seeing it unrepentant and cold and murderous and everything dark in the world... I know that he didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. He drew me to them, and I only remember having to watch him and two faceless children with obsidian hair be killed by my own hand, over and over and over...

I don't know quite what happened then, but I can remember his voice and feeling my body hit the floor in the night.

I woke up, days later feeling as though the sky had landed on my body and crushed it, sapping it of all energy, on a hospital bed, with the gentle sound of a beeping machine faintly registering in my brain. I was weary, and I wanted to shiver and scream and cry all at the same time. I didn't know what to do.

I saw him there, at the side of my bed, and screamed, my eyes going wide, mirroring his. He tried to subdue me, to comfort me I suppose, but he failed. I looked into the pitch black, and all I could see was red, the endless plains of blood red.


	5. 064. Revenge

_064\. Revenge_

_Tick_

_Tick_

_Tick_

_Tick_

_Tick_

**_Clunk_ **

The hour hand shifted over to seven. Sakura rushed away from the long list of medical records that she had to correct, record and make notes on. Junpei was next on shift, he would be able to do it. Perhaps, he would understand why she always rushed away. It barely took her five minutes to rush to the doctor's quarters and pull on her citizen's clothes before she was out the door, rushing over to the Uzumaki household.

"Sakura!" Hinata greeted in her ever kind voice. Her eyes looked tired, and the lavender was hidden a little behind a cloud of fatigue. But she smiled none the less and let Sakura into their house. Naruto was playing with a baby Himawari rather rambunctiously near the dinner table, and the other two children sat surprisingly calmly for toddlers, although upon further notice they were merely dozing on each other's shoulders.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted loudly, with a beaming smile. He scooped up the baby Himawari and brought her over immediately.

"Isn't she so sweet? She looks just like Hinata - and look at those eyes! And her little nose! And those whisker marks too-"

"Yes, Naruto, she is beautiful". Sakura cut him off with a desperately fake forced smile. Himawari was a beautiful baby no doubt, but Sakura couldn't take much more of Naruto and his 'newly-minted-father' mood - even if Himawari was 3 months old.

"Sarada's just sleeping with Boruto. As ever, she was well behaved." Hinata smiled and sat down.

"Thank you so much, Hinata." Sakura tried pouring all her gratitude into those few words but couldn't seem to do it. Hinata just smiled and shook her head.

Sakura crept over to Sarada and Boruto and tapped the former on the shoulder.

The little girl stirred and groaned a bit. "Don't wanna go home… wanna stay with Uncle Naruto…"

The words seemed to smack Sakura in the face. "I know, sweetie." She didn't. She adjusted the glasses on her little daughter's face and combed a few fingers through her fine black hair, almost as short as Sakura's had been the first time she cut it as a ninja. "But we've got to go now." She pulled Sarada into her arms and replaced where she'd been with a large cushion so that Boruto continued sleeping soundly. "We'll come back soon, don't worry."

Sarada moaned into her shoulder but continued dozing.

She didn't bother to make eye contact with Naruto - she could feel the pity in his eyes from far away. "Thank you so much, Hinata, Naruto."

Hinata just smiled again. She was much better at covering up the pity than Naruto. "Any time Sakura, really. I understand." Sakura appreciated those words as much as she hated them.

A step back into the cool autumnal evening's air and Sakura felt stronger. Sarada's 3-year-old form seemed to burn hot in her arms. She was getting heavier, much heavier than when she was a baby, and yet she seemed to miss all that time. All that time spent at the hospital to pay their bills…

By the time they reached the new Uchiha Compound, Sarada was stirring. Sakura set her down in the living room on the sofa, and when to grab a glass of water and Sarada's pyjamas.

Sarada was rubbing her tired eyes when Sakura returned. She took the glass of water without a word and gulped noisily from it.

"What did you do today?" Sakura asked with a bright smile, forcing her best enthusiasm.

"I read."

"What did you read?"

"Books. Scrolls."

"What kind of scrolls and books?"

"Interesting ones."

Sarada was now wearing her pyjamas. She replaced her glasses on her small face and the gaze she fixed Sakura with resembled Sasuke so much. That loathing, that complete disinterest. Sakura was taken aback for a moment.

"Would you like to go to bed, or shall I read you a story?" Sakura smiled down at her daughter, her biggest love in this world.

"I'm going to bed."

The two-year-old Sarada disappeared off towards her room and disappeared for the night.

Sakura looked at the clock. 8 pm.

She sat there and stared. She just stared and stared at the wall.

Sasuke abandoned her with nothing, nothing at all. She was broke, and her daughter was more distant to her than her own best friend's children. She couldn't stand to look at Himawari because she wanted Sasuke to be there with her, to have more children with. He wanted to be able to remember Sasuke looking at their daughter with that amount of love, or cooing over her every feature, but she couldn't. And she didn't have the time or the means to repair her relationship with her daughter. She worked for money, and they were so distant. It broke her heart every morning when she delivered Sarada to a new member of the Konoha 12 or to her parents, and it crushed it again every evening when she brought Sarada home and she didn't want to talk. It hurt so much that she felt like she was dying inside. Rejection from the one who she loved all her life until they finally married and had a daughter, only to be abandoned again. Pouring all her love into a daughter, more perfect than she could ever have hoped for, and then to be called back to work when Sasuke took almost all the Uchiha gold for himself. It made her insides burn with rage and she could almost say she hated that man. But she'd take him back if he appeared, in spite of every fibre of her body yelling otherwise.

_Tick_

_Tick_

_Tick_

_Tick_

_Tick_

**_Clunk._ **

The clock struck bang on 12, midnight.

Sakura stirred from the sofa, hazy on her feet.

Tomorrow morning, Tenten would come to mind Sarada for the morning. Sakura crept slowly towards Sarada's room and slid the door open.

There she was, that perfect girl. She clutched a picture of Sasuke, the one she'd stolen from Sakura's bedside as she slept.

"I love you, Sarada. You're more than I ever could've hoped for in this world. I only wish you knew just how much I love you."

Sarada stirred slightly, and Sakura closed the door.

All she could do for her daughter was to work, to pay the bills, and to save for a future where they could spend much more time together. For now, it was back to work.

Oh, Sasuke. One day, she would take her revenge on him for placing her in such a pitiful existence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... probably should've mentioned that I'm not always following cannon!


	6. 063. Waiting

_063\. Waiting_

The sun was boiling today. It seemed to burn down on her skin and pulsate in floods of brilliant sunlight. She wiped the back of her neck and internally recoiled at the clammy hand she pulled back. Her white summer dress seemed to be sticking between her thighs and the red bench she was sitting on. She felt so gross, and sticky, and…

She sighed.

This time she'd been determined to arrive early. Ten minutes early, to be precise. But with every moment she looked at her watch, the minutes seemed to drag on so, so slowly until she realised that it was 2 pm, bang on.

She sighed.

She fiddled with the skirt's hem, sitting around her knees. Naruto had said she looked pretty like that. Ino gave a shrug that was a bigger compliment than they both knew that either of them was capable of forming. The white dress was flimsy, but still felt too thick in this weather, and was tied together in bows over her shoulders. Even with just this on, she felt like she could die in the heat.

She sighed.

She saw Kakashi-sensei earlier. He didn't say much to her, though. Not that he ever did. But on these days she often felt like she needed something inane or something perverted from him. Even something to rile her up, in the Konoha summer death-spell, would've gladly distracted her from what she both feared and anticipated with all her heart. That was in the morning, when there weren't yet beads of sweat forming around her hairline. Her hair was longer now, reaching just past her shoulder-blades. She was glad she'd tied it up, out of the way and away from her body in this infernal heat. She only hoped she didn't get sunburnt after all this waiting. 2:10pm.

She sighed.

Last time, he'd been waiting for her when she arrived. He'd been waiting for half an hour, apparently. She still didn't quite believe that, nor how cooly he told her that, but she let it slide. He was just introverted, she told herself. He was just not used to the social rules everyone else lived by yet. She told herself and anyone who'd listen that it was okay, that he was just making mistakes. He wasn't bad, and they were a good match. Ino had been trying to set her up on other dates for months now. Perhaps it was just denial, but they didn't know the situation as well as she did, they didn't understand him in quite the same way. It was easy to forgive his manner because she knew why he was like that. It didn't mean she enjoyed the waiting. 2:20pm

She sighed.

Throwing her head back she shut her eyes and gave into the heat. It was suffocating. The air was thick and humid. No wind blew. No matter where you went or what you did, it was hot and stifling and gross.

"This is the worst day of the year…" she grumbled to herself and counted the seconds off in her head as they ticked by.

"And so this is the day you ask to meet?" A cool voice and a refreshing shadow spread over her.

She jumped, and her eyes flew open. It was strange to see him upside-down, but there he was. Black coat forgone, thankfully, but those same cool eyes and shining dark hair.

"Sasuke!" She smiled widely and bounced up to see him. He was still taller than her, by a head or so. She still had to look up to him.

"Sakura." He smiled, in a way that only he smiled, that seemed like just half of his mouth was being pulled up on one side. "You're not late."

"No," she countered quickly, "but you are."

"Hn." It wasn't really an answer, but she didn't need one.

"Anyway, I've been waiting in this summer sun for ages now, don't you feel bad?"

He just looked at her, and then looped her arm in his.

She sucked at her teeth, in the same way her mother used to do to her father whenever she wasn't exactly pleased. "Tsunade gave me the entire day off." She posed, hoping that he'd say something. "What shall we do?" She asked when she didn't get the reply she was hoping for. Or, any reply at all.

"It's up to you."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Sakura didn't know what to think. Perhaps he really wasn't interested? They both walked in silence for a while.

"I…" She trailed off. What could she say to a man who wasn't speaking to her?

"I like your dress." He fingers trailed lightly over her shoulders, then over the bows on them.

"Thank you."

"You look very pretty."

Sakura didn't say anything. Sasuke was never this nice. Ever.

"I- I-"

"And Sakura," he began, and looked down at her for the first time since they'd began walking. "I'm sorry for making you wait."


	7. 094. Alcohol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for one swear word... not a bad one though!

_094\. Alcohol_   
_Mulled Wine_

Sakura held the cup out in front of her suspiciously, frowning. It smelled strange, looked an odd colour, and so must be either poisonous, terrible for you, or just plain odd.

The room they were all in (an official hall of some kind, near enough to the ANBU complex up in the mountains) was dark, lit only by the fairy lights dotted around the room, and the flashing lights on the tree. Tinsel was hung almost everywhere it could physically stick, and over a table stacked only with a pile of mince pies and rows of glasses of strong smelling mulled wine, there was an odd paper chain of something that was perhaps supposed to be ninja, but looked more like a three-year-old's attempts at drawing a cat. It was a few days before Christmas, and therefore time for the annual Konoha 12/anyone else they were friend with's Christmas party. It had just started as the 12 of them hanging out before Christmas, the year they all met. But through the years of some disappearing, others going crazy and a few being added to the unofficial 12, it got looser and looser until whoever wanted to, came. It was one of the things that Sakura looked forward to most, all year round.

"Oh calm down!" Ino declared, leaning on Sakura's shoulder and slightly drunk already. "It's just mulled wine!"

Sakura turned her narrowed eyes on Ino. "Yes, I know that pig. But what's _in_ it?"

Ino frowned, pulling her head back into her neck slightly. "I don't…. know."

Sakura snorted. "As usual, then." Ino slapped her - lightly to anyone but another kunoichi - and blew a raspberry at her.

"It's just a few spices and wine, all heated up." A kind nurse Sakura worked with, Ami, informed her.

"Thank you, Ami." Sakura replied with a smile. Ino watched her with intrigued all-seeing eyes as Sakura took a tentative sip. She choked slightly, but swallowed it anyway - despite the vague look of disgust on her face.

Ino laughed next to her. "Well- you liked that, didn't you?" She continued laughing next to Sakura, attracting the attention of a group of ANBU - including Sai.

"Careful Ino, your boyfriend's looking over." Sakura muttered into her ear. Ino froze, looked over at Sai and then gave Sakura such a piercing look that it might've made her tremble if she didn't already know that she could win in a fight. Well, probably.

"That's it, Sakura. You're downing the rest of that wine." Ino stared her down.

"But-"

"You are."

"But!"

"I'm adding vodka." Ino pulled out a small bottle and started pouring and pouring.

"Oh, mother of -" Sakura pulled the bottle upright. "Fine!" She looked into the cup in her hand, swirling the liquid with a less than appetiser look on her face. She brought the cup to her lips, hesitating massively as she did so. She drank, a big gulp and trying desperately to let as little of the liquid as possible touch her tongue before she swallowed.

"Oh… my…"

"…god." Ino finished, not even watching Sakura anymore, but looking at the door.

Yes, that was Kakashi.

Yes, that was a white beard and red hat on him.

Yes, that was actually Kakashi dressed in a Santa outfit.

"If he is the stripper for our party, I will never ask for anything in my life again." Ino muttered lowly.

Ami, standing on the other side of Sakura, giggled lasciviously, and Tenten and Hinata, who'd just come over, gave Ino a sympathetic glance. More than sympathetic from Tenten, actually.

"Oh, you.." Sakura winced. "So gross!"

"Why?" Ino asked.

"He was my teacher!" Sakura yelled, taking another gulp of her drink to kill the thoughts in her mind. Hot, but so, so weird. And yet as Kakashi walked further into the room Sakura couldn't deny that in the ANBU photos of Kakashi, he was damn _hot_.

Oh, God.

"So what? Still hot." Tenten shrugged, a grin on her face.

Sakura shivered, looking thoroughly unimpressed with the group of girls around her. Even Hinata!

"Hinata! I thought I could trust you!" Sakura whined, feeling her head spin very slightly from the alcohol catching up to her. Her limbs seemed to flood with a nice, warm feeling.

Hinata turned to look at Sakura and smiled, lavender eyes sparkling with mirth. "I'm sorry, Sakura. But I only had Kiba and Shino keeping me company on my team. Handsome males are still… a rarity."

"Oh what? No." Ino stumbled slightly closer to Hinata. "I would fuck Kiba. Any day."

Sakura widened her eyes. "Ino. That's a new low."

"No think about it though! Dog Boy got hot. Those fangs, those face tattoos? Kinda…"

"kinky."

Ino pointed at Tenten and clicked. "Bingo."

Sakura was so busy staring at Ino, partially in disbelief as she talked about Kiba and… ugh, that she was shocked and tensed entirely when she felt a finger poke at her back.

"Sakura?"

Sakura knew that voice and turned to see Sasuke standing there. Somehow, on some universal plane, Naruto (she guessed) had forced a sonata hat onto him. Sakura pulled up a hand to cover her mouth gaping on half in shock, half with a laugh.

"Naruto - and mulled wine."

Sakura bit her lips to stop herself from laughing.

"Sakura drank mulled wine too!" A drunk Ino (who it transpired had been regularly drinking from her vodka bottle) turned and declared at Sasuke. He nodded, once, eyebrow raised. "Jesus you have a stick up your ass." She rolled her eyes, turning back on the couple.

"Well. Mulled wine, huh?" Sakura said, giggling. Sasuke sighed, rolling his eyes.

"We're going home."

Sakura giggled all the way out past the pile of mince pies, weird paper chains and Santa-Kakashi.

It wasn't the most eventful of all their Christmas parties - one involved Naruto, a dog, Ino's vodka, and a Christmas tree - but it was one that Sakura enjoyed quite a lot.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end for now - so thanks for reading!
> 
> Please leave comments if you've got the time/inclination!

**Author's Note:**

> Just like all my other fics (mostly), this is another collection of oneshots! I hope you enjoy them.
> 
> Please leave feedback if you've got time!


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